


A Week After Freedom

by ProjectOrthus



Category: Dirk Gently - Fandom, Dirk Gently’s Holistic Detective Agency
Genre: BLACKWING - Freeform, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-24
Updated: 2019-06-24
Packaged: 2020-05-19 05:17:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19350259
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ProjectOrthus/pseuds/ProjectOrthus
Summary: It’s been a week since The Rowdy 3 broke out of Blackwing, taking Dirk with them for a source of food. And it’s been mere hours since Dirk finally escaped from The Rowdy 3. Overcome with the heat, exhaustion, and hunger, Dirk collapses and finds himself at a Seattle hospital.





	A Week After Freedom

Dirk stood on the open street, not quite sure what to do. He still wore his now dirty and torn Blackwing jumpsuit. His hair was ruffled and tangled, from days without brushing. It had been around a week since The Rowdy 3 had broken out of Blackwing, taking him along with them. Dirk didn’t know at first why, and thought it was simply an act of kindness.   
Then, once they were safe in the woods, far away from the dreaded complex, Dirk found out why he had really been taken along. Dirk didn’t like being fed on. He hated the way it left him feeling. Drained, emotionless, unable to feel. It was like Blackwing all over again, but this time he was with people he formerly trusted. It wasn’t a pleasant week. They didn’t seem to mind that Dirk was growing more and more distressed, desperate, and upset. They said it was even better. They called him a “walking buffet”. Then, one day, Dirk escaped. He credited it to the universe, making Martin just careless enough to leave him alone in their newly-stolen van while they got chips from the gas station. Dirk threw open the van doors and sprinted out into the day, down the street. He didn’t stop running until he couldn’t breath.   
And now he was alone, confused, and felt so drained he could hardly stand. He lowered himself down the outside wall of a run down coffee shop and sat on the pavement. The street wasn’t very busy, and people didn’t pay him much attention. In his head, Dirk tried to formulate some sort of plan. Something he could do. Where did he go now? Dirk had spent most of his life in Blackwing, and being in the outside world was overwhelming. The sun was too bright, the air was full of all sorts of strange, new smells. And he could feel a strange, congested feeling in his chest. His eyes were growing itchy and watery. Dirk didn’t want to spend another moment outside, but he found he was too exhausted to stand up again. The hot sun beat down on him, making him overheat in his jumpsuit. He grew lightheaded, the world started spinning, and finally, Dirk passed out on the sidewalk. 

The harsh, bright lights of the hospital shone down on Dirk as he opened his eyes. The bed was clean, soft, the walls were white. An IV was stuck in his arm. Dirk looked around, panic rising in his chest. It was all a dream. He was never free. He was back in Blackwing, in the Sick Bay. Somehow he must have hit his head or gotten injured or something and the escape as well as the week spent free was all a dream. Dirk moved the arm without the IV, expecting it to be stopped by the usual straps, but it wasn’t. He raised his hand in front of his face. It was scrubbed clean, and was soft again. He squinted to see it past the blinding light above him. Then, Dirk tried to sit up. He found he could rather easily, but was nevertheless hit with a wave of nausea, so he lowered himself back onto the bed again.   
From around the corner came a nurse, with a friendly smile on his face. He carried a clipboard, and his name tag read Adam Campbell. Adam came to the side of Dirk’s bed and pressed a button. The bed raised Dirk into a sitting position.   
“How are you doing, Mr. Cjelli?” Asked Adam.   
Dirk felt a stab of fear. He couldn’t find the strength to awnser Adam, so he kept silent, staring fearfully at the man.   
“That’s your name, isn’t it?” Adam said, “we found an ID card in your pocket. Well, something close to one. Not official government-issue. More like a name tag. Your name is Svlad Cjelli, correct?”  
Dirk sat paralyzed in fear for a few more moments before all of this fully processed in his head. They didn’t know who he was. Maybe this wasn’t Blackwing. Dirk slowly shook his head. “Not that,” he managed.   
“Then what’s your name?” Adam asked, pencil hovering above his clipboard, “Icarus? That was on the card as well. Cool name.”  
“Dirk,” said Dirk, “... Gently.”  
Adam was adjusting Dirk’s IV bag. He chucked. “Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle.”  
“My name is Dirk Gently,” corrected Dirk.  
“Oh!” Adam said, “Gently is the last name. Okay, let me write that down. Do you have any government-issue ID on you, Mr. Gently?”  
“No,” Dirk said. He didn’t know if this was better or worse than Blackwing. He didn’t know how to handle all these questions. What was he supposed to say?   
“Where are you from?” Adam asked.  
“... England,” said Dirk.   
“How did you get here without ID?”  
“I went on a plane,” said Dirk.   
“Do you have a passport?” Adam said.   
“I did,” Dirk said, trying to remember. They had taken it away. For ‘safekeeping’.   
“Where is that now?”  
Dirk closed his eyes. He didn’t want to have to do this right now. “Where am I?”  
“You’re at the Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle,” Adam said, “we found you passed out on the street. Heat stroke and malnutrition. You also seem to have bruising on your arms and legs, and a significant amount of scarring on your back. Can you tell me about that?”  
“You wouldn’t believe me,” said Dirk.  
“Try me.”  
“I was trapped in a government project for people with supernatural abilities since I was eight,” Dirk said.   
Adam furrowed his brow. “You don’t have any head trauma...”  
“I’m telling the truth,” said Dirk.  
“I’m going to book you for a psychiatric evaluation,” Adam said, writing something else down on his paper, “okay. That will be all for now. I’ll be back in a bit with some food for you. Call if you need anything. It’s all going to be okay, Dirk. Whatever happened to you, you can tell us.”   
“I did,” whispered Dirk, watching Nurse Adam walk out of the room. So nobody was going to believe him. Maybe that was for the best. Blackwing was probably looking for him, and he didn’t want to go back now. Not when he had just gotten free. Dirk closed his eyes again and let his mind drift off, eventually falling to sleep.


End file.
